Urk, I'm sure there are jokes in there on at least two different levels.

I don't know what you mean...



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

Actually, there were several build/design problems with the Titantic, which contributed to it's sinking. The biggest one being that the separate compartments in the hull, meant to keep it from flooding even if the hull was breached, were all connected at the top, so once one of them filled, it flowed into the other nearby compartments and filled them too, like an ice cube tray.

I've also head that testing of steel brought up from the wreck deteremined that it had a higher sulfur content than it should have, which would have made it very very brittle at cold temperatures (like, say, the temperature of the water it was in).



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"I've often said that the difference between British and American SF TV series is that the British ones have three-dimensional characters and cardboard spaceships, while the Americans do it the other way around."
--Ross Smith

Well, that one also happened with the Tay Bridge, allegedly - this was a famous tragedy, with the most tragic aspect possibly being MacGonagall's poetry.

The Titanic was actually better built and designed than most ships (if not all) of the time. The water'tight' compartments were indeed flawed, but they were designed to cope with a far smaller hole than made by the iceberg (it ripped open four compartments - which many modern ships would be disabled by), and even then it was designed only to keep afloat long enough to get everyone off. The 'unsinkable' epithet was attached by the press, rather than the designers, and the shipping company were to blame for not equipping it with enough lifeboats. The designers did a pretty good job, the builders produced a ship matching the design - it was still the bugger driving the thing (highly nautical, I know) who was to blame, IMHO...

I know - I'm a born pedant...



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

I was at a book fair at lunch time today (you just pop out to buy a sandwich and get draaawn in...) and there was a nice hardback bound version of McGonagall's poetry. It was quite pretty. (The book, not the poetry, obviously). I thought about buying it, but restrained myself.

It wasn't a great book fair, actually. It might have been alright for antique book collectors, there were a few that looked ok, but mainly it was recent books for 2.50 or 3.00, which is crap. pah.

I got the second Janet Evanovich one for a quid, though.

I think books contain some kind of magnet. They have that effect on certain people. I used to be engaged to a man who could detect any second-hand bookshop within a hundred yards in a strange town, no matter how cunningly hidden it was up a maze of alleys.

He also used to walk around reading a book all the time. Oddly enough, the only time he ever bumped into a lamp post was when he wasn't reading. Make of that what you will!



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That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
(Llewelyn the dragon, Ozy and Millie)

Sarah

I own MacGonagall's "Poetic Gems", although I'd love a hard-back version of any of his stuff. It's always reassuring to see how much worse you could get...



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

Have you ever seen the Scottish Metrical Psalter? That's basically one of McGonagall's spiritual kin let loose on a bunch of innocent and unsuspecting psalms. King David is probably still spinning in his grave, if there's any of him left to spin.



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That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
(Llewelyn the dragon, Ozy and Millie)

Sarah

I agree fully on the magnetic properties of bookshops. Was walking along precinct on Broomhill, intending to visit the (not very super)market at the far end. Next thing I knew I was in the bookshop halfway along. I had absolutely no recollection whatsoever of making a decision to go in, or actually doing so. I was just in the bookshop.

That's what happened to me this morining, and before I'd even had time to register it a mysterious force had opened my wallet, bought 'Big Night Out' and then caused me to walk under the wheels of a cherry picker.



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

So exactly which spiteful fairy did your parent's forget to invite to your christening ?

Wel, the 'sound financial sense' fairy never gave me any blessings, for starters. And buying books is a perfectly good trait to have - and it was the book that caused the (rather less than) fatal accident. So I think I probabaly did all right, on balance.

What spiteful fairy did everyone else get?



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

I got the one who thought it would be a good idea for me to marry a musician. :-P



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That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
(Llewelyn the dragon, Ozy and Millie)

Sarah

I got the procrastination fairy, foremost among many...

i just went to investigate the scottish metrical psalter, but I only know one psalm...it seemed identical (23rd, obviously), but i don't know if it's cause we regularly use the SMP, or it's just the same in both.

psd: if the mcgonagall book is still there at the next fair, i'll buy it for you :o)

I bought the alan cumming book yesterday...lotsa "pansexual" sex, drugs and rock'n'roll....

I'm a heretic, and would have no idea what a psalm was if it ran me over with a crane. Is it like a Psion?

I got cursed by the indecision fairy, I think. Or maybe that should be the vacillation fairy? Or the uncertainty fairy? I just can't make my mind up...



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

I got cursed by the fairy of not-being-able-to-stick-at-a-full-time-job. I just can't hack the nine-to-five thing, which is difficult to explain to those nice people in jobcentres. It really does stress me to the point of ill-health.

I got that one too - I just have no work ethic, and no real drive to do much with myself...



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

I have a work ethic, that's part of the problem. I feel guilty that I can't be responsible and earn myself a decent living. I'll just have to write that best-seller, or become a kept woman.
A couple I know have recently split up. He's got a good job and I suspect he's always fancied me a bit....

Personally I'd happily retire to a shed in the highlands, and sod earning money. Guess it won't happen hough...



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

My sister has similar problems with not quite knowing what to do with her life. Here's her solution...

I'm going to become a Hobbit. There is nothing I like more than simple tools and a well tilled field. And I'm about the right height, just need to work on the hairy feet!